Frozen II: How It Should Have Ended
by Lyger 0
Summary: Hey, it worked for Bob Newhart.
1. Chapter 1

In the royal palace of the kingdom of Arendelle, Elsa shot bolt upright from her bed, a cold sweat on her brow and gulping deep lung-fulls of air as she looked around. Though it was dark, the clock in the corner across from her bed reading three in the morning, she could clearly see the same bedchamber she had inhabited for the past sixteen years. By all right, as the nation's queen, she could have had her belongings moved into the master suite once inhabited by her parents, but Elsa could not bring herself to desecrate those chambers by moving out their personal effects. So it was that she continued to inhabit her own suite of rooms, sleeping in her familiar bed and conducting her day to day business of running the country from one of the offices adjoining the royal library.

Allowing the thoughts of her dream to settle in her mind, Elsa flipped back her plush comforter and sheets, slipped her toes into her favorite slippers and stood up, looking around her familiar chamber. Everything was normal. The clock ticked steadily, the windows were safely latched, the doors to her walk-in closet were closed, though the inside was no doubt overdue for a reorganizing after Anna's latest impromptu fashion show, once again declaring nothing she owned was good enough for her date with Kristoff. All was well. No mysterious voices, no strange aurora in the sky, no sign of anything out of the ordinary.

Stretching and letting out a larger-than-would-be-appropriate-for-royalty yawn, Elsa crossed over to the vanity mirror set against the wall nearest her bed and examined her reflection. Same light blue nightgown, same pale complexion with the hint of rosiness in her cheeks and ears, same blue eyes, same platinum-ash hair. Taking particular care to examine her hair, hanging loose about her neck and shoulders for the night, Elsa shook her head a few times, and gave a small grimace as it flowed about before grabbing it and beginning to tie it into her usual French braid. "Really," she said to herself, "I admit it looks nice on me, but it would be a complete hassel to live with constantly. And white just isn't my color; my complexion gets lost in it."

Still unable to shake the nagging feeling in the back of her head, Elsa reached to the side of the desk and pulled over her personal copy of the family Bible. Taking a deep breath, she opened the book and flipped carefully to a particular section detailing the family history. She found the page detailing her immediate family and ran her finger under the lines of text. "Lady Iduna of Corona, daughter of house Vestria, did marry prince Agnar of Arendelle, son of house Floren, this fifth day of September, year of Our Lord... there it is. I've read this page 100 times. I KNOW where mother comes from and it certainly not some tribe from the middle of nowhere. She and father were arranged to marry to secure a political alliance just before grandfather passed away... from consumption. Strange name for a disease. Sounds like he died of eating too much." Elsa's musings were interrupted by another yawn.

Assured that all was as it should be, Elsa returned to her bed, sighing as she settled back against her satin sheets and pulled the warm comforter over her body and up to her shoulders. "A nightmare at twenty-four years old. Really. I'll have to ask Kristoff what his mother uses to make that stew of hers. I admit it was tasty, but if that's the result, I should probably keep it off the dinner menu." Stretching luxuriously under the soft fabrics, Elsa scoffed at the thought of sleeping in a tent in the middle of a forest. "As if I would ever even WANT to give up my throne to run around with a bunch of… magical spirits and wild-people. That sounds like something Anna would do! Oh, my God… Anna on the throne? THAT is a scary thought." Taking a brief moment to giggle, Elsa rolled onto her side and settled back into a contented sleep, happy all was as it should be.


	2. Chapter 2

In her own chambers, Princess Anna tossed and turned in bed, a cold sweat soaking her pillow as she muttered in her sleep, her fingers desperately gripping her blankets. "No... Elsa... please... come back. Come back! COME BACK!" Her eyes SNAPPING open, Anna shot upright, gasping for breath like a fresh-caught herring. She looked around in confusion, and more than a little terror, until her mind caught up to the rest of her and she realized she was safely in her bedroom.

"Oh... oh... just a nightmare." She chuckled and used the edge of her blanket to mop her brow. "What a relief. For a minute or two, I actually thought..." Anna stopped as her breath caught in her throat, as if her very body was afraid to allow her finish the statement. Though it was a warm night in late summer, she shivered as if a cold wind had just blown down the back of her pajamas. Considering her options, Anna slipped out of bed, wrapping her blanket around herself like a protective cloak and made for her door. It was a walk Anna had made many times in her past, a familiar act made in quiet desperation, and like always, despite the fact her sister's chambers were only just down the corridor from her own, it felt like miles in the pitch black darkness of the night. Stopping outside the familiar door, she hesitated only a moment before rapping on the carved cedar with her knuckles in a familiar tune.

****  
Elsa's eyes popped open and she sat up in bed at the sound of someone knocking on her chamber door. Blearily, she shook her head to clear the cobwebs before getting up with a grumble. As queen, she knew she must be prepared to be summoned at any time, day or night, but that did NOT mean she did not like getting a full night's sleep. Not even bothering with her slippers, she stormed toward the door. "So help me, if this isn't something about being invaded or bandits raiding the outlying villages, whoever this is isn't thawing out until next spring!" She grabbed the door handle and YANKED it open with a jerk, startling the ginger-haired maiden standing just outside. "Anna?"

Chuckling nervously, Anna waved. "Hi, Elsa. I'm sorry about the time but... I... IhadabaddreamcanIsleepwithyou?!"

"What?"

"Sorry. I had a very...disturbing dream. Can I maybe... sleep with you? You know... like old times?"

Elsa sighed. So, it was one of THOSE. When they'd been young, Anna had developed a habit of crawling into her bed seeking comfort each and every time she'd become scared after sundown. Even during their long years of isolation from each other, many had been the times Elsa had been awoken at night by the sound of her sister snoring from the other side of the door. "Alright, come in. Tell big sister all about it."

***  
Having alerted the kitchens to send up a pot of chamomile tea for them, Elsa and Anna sat together in Elsa's bed as the queen brushed her little sister's hair out. The whole time, Anna described her dream to Elsa. While it sounded remarkably similar to the dream that had disturbed Elsa's own sleep earlier, Anna's had apparently gone far deeper.

"And the worst part of it... without you here, Elsa, all our enemies and rival kingdoms... they attacked us! I remember the explosions and the whole city on fire... everyone running and screaming! When I finally saw you... you just stood there with this... this horrible, COLD expression on your face, like you didn't care about us anymore and just LEFT! Left us all to DIE! Don't ever leave, Elsa, PLEASE! I CAN'T be queen! I'm not made for sitting around in council chambers, making important decisions and dealing with weird people from kingdoms whose names I can't pronounce! I'm a nincompoop, a fool, a complete and utter IDIOT! If I was made queen, the kingdom would fall to ruin in a week!"

"Anna," Elsa gasped, holding her little sister at arms' length to look her in the eye. "I will have NONE of that from you. You are NONE of those things." Sighing gently, Elsa turned Anna's head until she was staring into the mirror. "Look. You want to know what I see there? I see a beautiful, strong, brave, compassionate young woman who on a NUMBER of occasions has shown a regal command equal to any other royal in the world!" Smirking, Elsa gasped in mock surprise. "Oh, and you're there, too!"

Anna GLARED at her sister as best she could. "That wasn't funny, Elsa."

"Oh, you LOVE my wry sense of humor, and you know it."

"And that's why I want us to stay together, so we can be like this, like SISTERS. We only just got each other back. I want us to be a family. I want games nights, and trips to the theatre and being aunties to each other's children and spoiling our grandkids rotten..."

"Whoa, Anna! You and Kristoff aren't even officially engaged yet, and you have us with grandkids already!"

"Sorry. I can just... I can see it all so clearly in my mind, and... I don't want anything to come between us again. I almost lost you once... I don't want to ever lose you again."

"Oh, Anna," Elsa said, wrapping her sister in a warm hug. "There, there. It's ok. It was all a bad dream. You know that, right? None of the things you saw were real. I'm here and you are safe."

Sobbing softly, Anna tightened her grip on her sister's nightgown and pressed her head against Elsa's shoulder. "Yeah... yeah, I KNOW that, logically, but feeling it in my heart is so different. We were apart for so long... I keep thinking what if THIS is the dream and I wake up alone again?"

"That will NEVER happen, Anna. I'm here for you. Kristoff, Sven and Olaf are all here for you. We are both alive and safe with NO crazy spirits around to tear us apart again. I'll tell you right now, if I WAS supposed to bridge humans and spirits, the spirits could very well come HERE and make petition at court just like everyone else! I would never abandon our people, and especially not my little sister, to be alone while I go play in the woods like a little girl."

Anna sniffed and visibly relaxed. "Thank you Elsa. I really needed this."

"My pleasure, Anna. And I'll tell you what, first thing tomorrow, we're working on getting Kristoff to propose properly. My sister is NOT going to be the next subject of court gossip." Laughing loud and long together, the two royal sisters both drifted back to sleep, happy and content to be united against any force that would try to tear them apart from each other.


End file.
